Part 1: Introduction | Part 2: Obedience | Part 3: Relationship | Part 4: Fruitfulness | Part 5: Intimacy
Paul comes now to the third in his list of four characteristics of those who “walk worthy of the Lord” (Co 1.10): they are, he says,
Strengthened with all might, according to his glorious power, unto all patience and longsuffering with joyfulness (Co 1.11).
There’s a lot to talk about in this clause. I’ll note initially that most of us have trouble taking Paul seriously here. This is an astonishing promise.
First, he says, we are “strengthened with all might.” Now, right on its face, it seems beyond belief. “All might?” Really?
Well, that’s what it says. Of course, we need to read contextually. God is omnipotent (e.g. Ge 18.14), and he’s also holy, or unique (Is 6.3; 45.5-6), which means that we are not as powerful as he is. So in what way is the mature believer “strengthened with all might”?
I’d suggest that God provides us with all the strength we need to do whatever he wills or calls us to do. We’re strong enough. We can get it done.
And lest we get nervous about making extravagant claims, Paul piles on the confirmation. In just this phrase Paul uses both the verb and the noun forms of the same word: literally, we are “strengthened with all strength.”
Now, Paul is a Jew, educated under Gamaliel the Rabban, and he knows his Hebrew language and culture. When a Hebrew speaker wanted to emphasize something, he repeated or duplicated it. In Genesis 1, for example, God says to Adam, if you eat the fruit of that tree, “dying, you shall die” (Ge 2.17). Most English translations rightly render that as “You shall surely die” or “You shall certainly die.” Scholars call that a “Hebraism.”
So if the mature believer is “strengthened with all strength,” then he is, as my Bostonian friends would say, “wicked strong.”
But there’s more. The next phrase gives the scope, or the measure, of that strength: “according to his glorious power.” The word “power” here is a different Greek word, one that means simply “might,” whether physical or military or political. I think the point here is not that we’re as strong as God—as we’ve already noted, that’s impossible—but rather that God’s commands for us are backed up by his omnipotence; we act not merely in our own strength, but with the impelling force of his omnipotence. We can do whatever God calls us to do.
One more thing. Paul adds a phrase here that specifies the kinds of things he’s calling us to do. Not impressive exploits or acts of strength, but rather “all patience and longsuffering with joyfulness” (Co 1.11). Both patience and longsuffering have to do with bearing up under a heavy load, not collapsing, finishing a difficult experience. We might say “endurance.” Often in the Scripture the words are connected to suffering or persecution.
How about that? A key evidence of spiritual maturity is that you don’t lose your cool. You don’t quit under pressure. You don’t let exhaustion, or pain, or fear move you to stop trying, to stop standing. When you’re persecuted, you take it, for as long as the persecutor can dish it out.
You Just Do It.
And finally, Paul says, you Just Do It with a smile on your face. “With joyfulness,” he says.
Yikes.
We have an example of that in the very earliest days of the church. After Peter healed a lame man in the Temple (Ac 3.1-10), he preached Christ to the gathered crowd (Ac 3.11-26). In response the Jewish leadership demanded that the apostles stop their preaching, under threat of severe punishment (Ac 4.1-22). But the church saw this opposition as the fulfillment of prophecy (Ac 4.23-31) and determined to continue preaching; and the apostles continued their healing miracles (Ac 5.12-16).
In response the Jewish leadership came down hard and eventually determined to execute the apostles, but began with a beating (Ac 5.17-40). And how did the apostles respond?
They departed from the presence of the council, rejoicing that they were counted worthy to suffer shame for his name (Ac 5.41).
They rejoiced that God had allowed them to suffer.
And they kept preaching:
And daily in the temple, and in every house, they ceased not to teach and preach Jesus Christ (Ac 5.42).
Strengthened with all might.
It can happen.
Next time: thankfulness.
Photo by Aaron Burden on Unsplash
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